Home help means a trained professional will visit your home, or the home of someone you care for, to take care of a range of everyday domestic tasks.
In this post we’ll explain what home helpers can do, and how you can arrange for home help for you, or for someone you know.
What Does Home Help Do?
A home helper can manage a number of day-to-day tasks. The specific jobs your home help will do will depend on your unique needs, but it might include:
- Shopping and other errands, including posting letters and collecting prescriptions
- Washing, ironing, folding, and putting away laundry
- Housework, including cleaning and potentially light gardening work
- Preparing meals, or arranging for meal delivery
On top of this, home help can offer essential companionship. While spending time in the home, the helper can chat, or reminisce about the past, or discuss hobbies or interests.
So, home help can improve mental and emotional wellbeing through ensuring everything in the house is clean and in order, while also helping the person receiving care to feel less lonely and more connected.
How Much Does Home Help Cost?
The cost of home help can vary depending on:
- Your location
- The specific services you request
- The provider you choose
- How many times week they visit or how long they stay
You may pay an hourly rate for home help, which can range between £15 and £30 an hour. A home helper might visit once a week, or a few times a week, and they may stay for around three hours. So, home help may cost you at least £45 a week, but possibly more depending on your situation.
Who Needs Home Help?
It’s a common misconception that only elderly people need home help. But this sort of in-home care could be useful for many different types of people, including:
- People with learning disabilities or complex care needs
- People dealing with long-term illnesses including dementia, Parkinson’s, arthritis, or mental health problems
- People recovering from serious injuries, or people with limited mobility following an operation or a hospital stay
How to Arrange Home Help
If you want to arrange home help for you or someone you know, you have three options:
- Contact your local council. They will arrange for a care needs assessment, which will determine if you’re eligible for care. If you are eligible, the council may arrange home help for you, and depending on your situation, they may even pay for it. But even if you’re not eligible, they may still offer advice on how to get the help you need.
- Contact a charity. Certain charities are funded to provide a certain level of home help support. The Carers Trust and Turn2us can provide more information about services available in your area.
- Arrange your own home help. Alternatively, you can contact a care provider to arrange for your own home help. Some providers have a level of funding, so may be able to help you with paying for the help. But often home help is self-funded, meaning you’re free to choose exactly the level of care you need.
Get Professional Home Help With Crossroads Direct
With Crossroads Direct, you can pay for home help either for you, or for someone you know. Our dedicated team will work closely with you to design a bespoke home help plan that meets your specific needs. And because companionship is important, we’ll also ensure that the home helper you get is someone you, or the person who needs the help, can get along with.
We offer a range of discounts for new clients. We also have some funded options, which may mean we can pay for your respite care services ourselves.
Find out more and get in touch for a free care and support consultation today.
